The Malaysian National News Agency, abbreviated BERNAMA, is a news agency of the government of Malaysia. It is an autonomous body placed under the Ministry of Communication and Multimedia. Bernama is an abbreviation of Berita Nasional Malaysia. Bernama also means named or titled in the Malay language. It was set up by an Act of Parliament in 1967 and started work on 20 May 1968. Being the Malaysian government's official news agency, Bernama's content and views are decidedly right-leaning and pro-government of the day.
Overview
BERNAMA operates from its headquarters at Wisma Bernama, off Jalan Tun Razak near National Library, Kuala Lumpur. It has its branches in every state in Malaysia. It also has correspondents in Jakarta, Singapore, New Delhi, Bangkok and Beijing and also its stringers in Washington, D.C., New York City, Australia and London. Most of the news media in Malaysia and Singapore and international news agencies subscribe to BERNAMA. Bernama began reporting using the audio-visual medium with the opening of its audio-visual division in September 1998. It also has its own radio and television channel, Bernama Radio, which is a 24-hours news and talk radio station broadcasting in the areas of Kuala Lumpur or Klang Valley on 93.9 FM and Johor Bahru on 107.5 FM, and Bernama TV a news channel which offers news in Malay, English, Chinese and Tamil on Channel 502 and Channel 631 of Astro and UniFi TV, respectively.
Bernama TV
Bernama TV is a Malaysian free-to-air news television network. It is owned by Bernama, a government news agency. It airs news programmes that are related to local and international business, lifestyle, sports and entertainment. BNC news bulletins were initially aired on Astro Ria, Astro Prima, Astro AEC, Astro Wah Lai Toi and Astro Vaanavil, but they have since been integrated to one Astro network. Its news content is primarily broadcast in Malay. However, there are also news bulletin in English, Mandarin, and Tamil since 2018. Other shows that are broadcast on BNC flagship talk-shows like Malay-medium "Ruang Bicara" as well as English-medium "The Nation" and "Bernama Today". On 25 May 2016, BNC went into a major rebrand, rebranding itself from Bernama TV to Bernama News Channel only to quietly revert to its' original logo and name 3 years later, in October 2019. Bernama TV staff were 'offered' to ink contract with Gem Bytes Sdn Bhd on October 14, 2019.
Bernama Radio
Bernama Radio is the first all-news radio station in Malaysia. The free-to-air station began trial transmission on 2007 at noon and was officially launched on 3 September 2007 at 9:00 a.m. It broadcasts on the FM 93.9 MHz frequency that was formerly used by RTM's Klasik Nasional FM. From January 2012 it also started broadcasting in Johor Bahru, Johor at 107.5 MHz. The station broadcasts domestic, regional and world news through hourly news bulletins, quarter-hourly news highlights and breaking news as and when they happen through live field reports and telephone cross-overs. The station also has an array of talk-back shows. It also airs at frequent intervals, traffic, weather and stock market reports. The station also provides live audio streaming through its website. On 3 January 2011, the station began its Mobile Streaming service via smartphones, accessible through the devices on board internet browser. The station underwent a minor rebrand in March 2016 whereby the station is now known as "Bernama Radio". Broadcasting in both English and Malay, the station is owned and operated by the news agency, and broadcasts from Wisma Bernama in Kuala Lumpur. For its first phase, the station's transmission covered the Klang Valley, which is home to approximately 8 million people. Tamil language broadcasting was introduced on 4 February 2017. The slot, known as "Tamil Oli", is broadcast from 11a.m. to 1p.m. and from 11p.m. to midnight every Saturday and Sunday respectively. It is created in collaboration with New Wave Events Sdn Bhd and will be based on an infotainment concept. The introduction of such slots also means that Tamil language radio broadcasts will be launched in East Malaysia for the very first time, since other Tamil radio stations available in Malaysia only broadcast in Peninsular Malaysia.
Frequency
Incidents
Noramfaizul Mohd Nor worked for Bernama TV as a TV camera operator when he was killed 2 September 2011 covering a humanitarian mission to Somalia. He was the first Malaysian journalist to be killed while on assignment abroad.
